German Car Forum

Forget about how the car looks, its going to drive like a dream. Doesnt matter if it looks like a peanut, the experience is probably out of this world.



1350kg, 570hp and 9000 rpm redline

A Ferrari is about the look also. The driving part is a given. Even the ugly ones drive great.

M

Lucky for me I like the look of this Ferrari then F. California looks weird, 458 is sex on wheels.

I'm not sure if I would call this car beautiful, but I must say that this car is damn right good looking. I'm not sure if I love it as much as the F430 but I dig the the new design language.

There is a lot of Enzo and California in this car. The interior reminds me a LOT of the S2000, not sure why.

Yes, the interior reminded me also of the S2000, I guess it is the way everything is laid out around the driver. Of course everything is 100x better on the Ferrari.

Yep, it's that layout. Of course, the 458 has a better interior, it also costs 10X as much too.

I'm baffled, astonished and disappointed at the same time that Ferrari has just shamed Porsche and Lamborghini. What a magnificent engine, I mean WOW! Do I even need to rehash them in this post? They really speak for themselves, this may the be best engine in the world, absolutely nothing to fault what to ever. Suddenly all the 5-10 F430s I saw this weekend are outdated.

Anyone mirroring this F1 tech lab next to the SLS ought to be careful. The SLS will be €146,000 and virtually complete leaving only minor cosmetic and mechanical upgrades to tick on the option list. At €170,000 the Italia will rack up ravage your bank account further for another €20-30k worth of option. On top of this, there is the dealer mark-up which is easily €30-40. In other words, no Italia will total for less than 200k, at least not in the UK and USA where the demand will be greater than the supply.

I'm appalled by the center console design and I'm sure some of you others are too. But if you take a step back from the computer and think about, it all make sense. Ferrari are reinventing themselves.

The 100-150k sport car segment is reaching the level of saturation with contenders such as the F430, Gallardo, up coming SLS, R8, up coming Mclaren and the 911 GT3/Turbo. Ferrari are spliting their now outdated contender, the F430, into 2 cars:

California: A Grand tourer chasing for the same customers as the SL63, 911 Turbo and even possibly the Bentley Continental GT.

458 Italia: Thoroughbred sports car with dream performance for those willing to pay. What makes it stand out is the performance which will put many sportscars/wannabe GT cars like the R8 to shame. This is a no compromise for those in the market for a racing experience.

Ferrari now have two opposite ends of a segment covered. 458 Italia will face it's first true rival in 2011 when the new 911 arrives.

I agree with you. It is a masterpiece and extremely exotic looking. California Ferrari isn't bad, but it doesn't look near as nice as the 458.

Now...when are we going to see that Enzo replacement????

This is just the premium price tag and prestige speaking.

Back to reality, I think the S2000 interior is very efficient.

I agree with you there. The S2000 calls itself a sports car and it very well has a sports car interior. It has no gimicks, no screens, no nothing. Just a VERY sweet gearbox, clear as hell digital tach, a rev happy engine and grippy handling. My only issue with the S2k was that it wasn't a coupe.

As for the F458, well I'm happy that the interior is very driver oriented. It looks very nice and homely to the driver. Now I want to see what it's like for the passenger.

ONE thing only: it would be even more magnificent if it had more torque than power. But you can't have everything

All seems a little too good to be true..

Yeah I'd love to see a Ferrari with 550-700 lb-ft of torque.

But then the car probably wouldn't be so light. Also you don't need gobs of torque if you keep the weight in check. It is sort of chciken and egg thing, the more weight you have, the more torque you need for similar acceleration and the more torque you have, the heavier the drive line is going to be. Also there is only so much torque you can put down, especially in a lightweight non-AWD car, the rest is just going to be either wasted smoked rubber or nannied away by electronics.

If something is 100 times better than something else, but only costs 10 times as much, then the former must be a great buy. Right?

Well, it's definitely not 100x better. That wasn't my quote. I would say that it's a LOT better than the S2000.

I want this car so badly...
If all of the members donate few bucks we could probably buy one and have some fun on the track
But I want one just for me and I can't afford it right now
Sometimes I feel like I gonna drive crappy BMWs till the end of my life j/k

I can't afford ANY car right now, let alone this Ferrari.

The curves are just impossible, the way the windsheild meets the body, the rear pipes...just sheer design aggression. Can't wait to see the full interior. This is the one that Ferrari needed. Everyone else has to figure out how they'll possibly compete with this.


M

I have mixed feelings about the design, there are a lot of ugly weird and japanese elements that i thought were gone with the california, but on the other hand the sleekness, the curves and the ultra sculted body is really impressive, reminds of the old old cars. The technical spec on the other hand are simply out of this world, the italian i think have just scared the shit out of the whole automotive industry. BMW should forget AM and buy them

Different worlds.

... my M5 is labled "For Sale" now I need the money...
I hope 2010 will be my Ferrari or Lambo year if things get better

When it's due to be released ?

Who ever is not fond of the design need to look past what initially meets the eyes. The design is very purposeful with mouth watering aerodynamic work, especially how air is guided from the muscular wheel houses towards the shoulders of the car and down over the rear deck to then get sucked down into the radiators for cooling the gearbox and engine. An incredible way of using air to generate down force and then smoothly use it to cool circulating water.

I love this car. I can't believe someone would actually say it is ugly ..

OMG, I'm in love. That's all I got say.

So this is the replacement for the F430, right? And it's the same car we thought was the F450.